Urban Wolf | ✓

30 | LONGING NOSTALGIA

LEN

     I had forgotten that the summer heat could be bad in Alberta if it wanted to be. A good number of people in the pack spent most of their day outside since it wasn't something that they could do during the long winter months. Adyen took an interest in gardening and fishing. We spent a lot of time by the river swimming and floating on our backs. He didn't like the horses though and stayed behind the fences whenever the children when their caretakers had to make them exercise or eat overall, he got used to the pack quite well, and in about a week he knew his way around the campgrounds.

     The pack had been more accepting of Adyen than I had expected. Kaya and Kai took a quick liking to him, and so did many of the omegas and mid-ranking wolves.

     My mum had been temporarily upset that we weren't a pair that could produce children, but she got over it, treating Adyen like her own son and showing him ugly pictures of me from when I was about twelve years old.

     Everyone liked, Adyen.

     Including Ahote.

     The two had bonded over tending the garden. Adyen was interested in learning from him because his own mother had a garden, and Naylan just started one in his pack lands.

     "You've stopped being weird around me, good," Ahote had told me one afternoon when Adyen had left for the shed to grab a better watering can.

     I had blinked, rubbing the back of my neck as my lips parted. Nothing had come out of it. and Ahote had laughed at me, shaking his head.

     "Not quite there yet, I suppose," he had said squatting to examine the lettuce while I stood to the side. Stiff as a log. He had been right though. As the holiday had gone on, I had started to forgive myself about how I had acted about Ahote and him finding a man that loved him after his mate had broken his heart. Sure, I still felt silly when I remembered me thinking of my future mate and tearing up at the thought that I would have it give up Ahote, but that was all behind us now, and I was starting to let it go so that we could be comfortable around each other.

     Adyen also spent a lot of time with the children. Adults were more educated and had a better sense to not ask why someone looked different, but kids—especially children sheltered from most of the outside world—weren't. Children would pause and stare at him, and brave ones would ask him why his hair was so curly or why his skin was brown. I thought Adyen would get sick of it, but he usually just laughed it off and offered to hold their hand. It reminded me of how they used to look at Alek who had blond hair and spoke in a foreign accent.

     Adyen was enjoying himself here and so was I. Catching up with everyone was a treat. I got to see Ahote and Kaya's kids play together and babble amongst themselves as they ran around in stumbling steps. I heard that Alek was now the second in command hunter. Elan, Ahote's firstborn, had grown up so much in my time away.

     I didn't regret going to Toronto one bit but being at home—even if it was just a month gave me a longing nostalgia that I decided to do the best with.

     Adyen and I spent most of our days taking walks within the territory lines, curled up in bed, or jumping around and raising our phones over our heads, looking for reception. Yeah, I had forgotten how terrible that was down here in the middle of nowhere. Granted, I hadn't had a phone until I left, I had just heard Alek and Zeke complain about it a lot. Because of the situation with the reception, Adyen and I didn't talk to the folks back in Toronto much. Here and there. We had video chats when we followed the supply truck to the nearest city once a week.

     It was fun. Day after day passed, and today, just like all the others I had woken up in bed next to Adyen who was a human heater. He was still asleep, but I was wide awake letting my eyelashes touch the material of the duvet we had thrown over us. I turned to my side, reaching out to touch the side of his eyes. He furrowed his brows, cuddling the pillow under him.

     "Hey, what time is it?" Adyen asked in a yawn, moving against me under the covers. I blinked, groaning when Adyen pulled the covers away and the light from the window entered my eyes. We had woken up earlier in the day, but it was a carefree Saturday, and we could sleep in, so we sort of did that. Sort of meaning, we had sex and promptly got knocked out again. That's why we were both naked and had a blanket over us even though it was summer and boiling outside.

     "Len, what time is it?" Adyen repeated his question, reaching out his hand to hold my shoulder and give it a shake. He didn't seem fully awake. His eyelids kept on fluttering and he had to force himself to keep them open when I pressed a kiss to his forehead before pulling away.

     "I don't know," I said as my eyes peeled open. Adyen was pouting at me. "How am I supposed to know?" I asked him, stretching my legs before rolling until I was laying on my back. We were both sharing my tiny twin bed in my childhood bedroom. Our boxes from Toronto took up half the space, but Adyen didn't seem to mind. In fact, he used me as a body pillow at night just pushed the boxes out of the way when he needed access to the door. We spent most of our time outside with the rest of the wolves, anyway.

     "I don't know," Adyen whined. He was always grumpy after a nap. "Do your wolf internal clock thing or something."

     "What?" I laughed. "That's not a thing."

     "Dogs can do it," Adyen retorted, making me laugh even more. He frowned, adjusting the pillow under his head, not responding to my jest. I guessed he was picking to go to sleep again.

     Feeling playful, I rolled to my side and poked his chest. "So, what does an urban wolf, like yourself, think of a place like this?" I asked, teasing Adyen for being a city boy. He rolled his eyes, pulling the covers over us again before snuggling into my chest.

     "It's alright." Those were mundane words, but I could hear the fondness and understatement in them. Adyen was enjoying his time here, and it made me happy. I smiled down at him, letting my fingers comb through his curls. I could see the two keloid scars that had formed where I had bitten him over two months ago. The sight of it made my heart skip.

     Mine. I heard the low growl of my wolf day in my head as I let myself brush Ayden's shoulder. Ours. I said back, not believing that there was a time that I had thought my mating bond was a bad thing. I take that all back. It had given me Adyen, after all.

THE END.